Half to alice l



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheei: 1. 9 J. A. JOSSELYN.

SCRAP LEATHER SPLITTING MACHINE.

Patented Apr. 13,, 1886.

- j) In cferz'z oz N. PEIERS. HMO-Lithographer. Wnllflngton. D. (L

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. J. A. JOSSELYN.

SURA'P LEATHER SPLITTING MAGHINE. No. 339,990. Patented Apr. 13, 1886.

N PETERS, PIIaIbI-ilhngmphan Wlshington. D. C.

Nrren JOHN A. JOSSELYN, OF BROOKFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO ALICE L. TWICHELL, OF SAME PLACE.

SCRAP=LEATHER-SPLITTING MACHINE.

erzcrrzcairrom forming part of Letters Patent No. 339,990, dated April13, 1886.

Application filed December 14, 1885.

T all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JOHN A. JossELYN, of the town of Brookfield, countyof \Vorcester, and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Scrap-Leather-Splitting Machines; and Ido hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the same, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings and letters of reference marked thereon, forming a part of thisspecification, and in which- Figure 1 represents a top or plan view ofso much of a scrap-leathersplitting machine as is necessary toillustrate my present invention.

Fig. 2 represents a vertical section on line a a, Fig. 1, looking in thedirection of arrow at. Fig. 3 represents a section on line b, Fig. 1,

looking in the direction of arrow a. Fig. 4 represents asection ofcertain portions on the irregular line 0, Fig. 1, looking in thedirection of arrow 0, Fig. 1, as will be hereinafter more fullydescribed. Fig. 5 representsaperspective view of the stationaryleather-open ing guide and its supporting-arm. Fig. 6 represents an endview of the leather-opening guide, looking in the direction indicated bythe arrow, Fig. 5. Figs. 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 represent, upon a reducedscale, different views ot'a piece of scrap-leather as it appears beforeand after it has been split, as will be hereinafter more fullydescribed.

To enable those skilled in the art to which my invention belongs to makeand use the same, I will proceedto describe it more in detail; butas mypresent invention consists in improvements in the scrap-leathersplitting machine patented by Geo. L. Tyler, March 5, 1881. No. 242,079,February 7, 1882, No. 253,449, and June 2, 1885, No. 319,357, it willonly be necessary to show and describe such portions of the machine asare immediately connected with or relate to my said improvements, thegeneral construction and operation of the said Tyler machine being wellknown,

as shown and described in said Tyler patents,

to which reference is hereby made.

In the drawings, A represents the bed upon which the splitting-knife 13rests, and which knife has its rear corners, B, cutout, as fullyindicated in Fig. 1 of the drawings. This knife is held in place byadjusting-bolts B". In this instance two are used in the back and one atthe outer end. Two of these bolts B Serial X0. 185,554. (No model.)

pass through the long arm C of the knifesupport C, while the other boltscrews against the outer notched end,B,of the splitting-knife, therebykeeping it close up against the inner edge of the leather-openingguide.

The knife-support C is screwed or fastened by screws A to the top of theknife-bed A. To keep the knife firmly against the bed A, with its backresting against the adjustingbolts, an upright screw, D, passes downthrough a suitable block attached to the frame of the machine, having ahole and screw- 6-; thread cut therein to fit the screw-thread on thescrew spindle D, which latter is provided with a hand-wheel, D, by whichit can be screwed up or down to fasten or release the splitting-knife B,which knife, when desired, can be turned over, thereby reversing itsnotched ends B, for the purpose of utilizing the cutting-edge of eachend, the scraps of leather to be split being generally less than halfthe length of the knife. nut may also beemployed on screw-spindle D forholding it more securely in position. If preferred, the long arm C mayextend up to and against the inner edge of the flaring part J of guideI.

E represents a piece of leather as it appears when fed into the machineto be split, and in this instance two sets of feed-rolls are employedforward of the knife, one set being marked F F and the next set G G, andthe 8 surfaces of these feed-rolls are provided with longitudinalgrooves or flutes d, and all of said flutes are slightly out of linewith the axes of said rolls, so that the ends (I of the flutes d next tothe seam-guide H will be a little back of the center of the rolls whenthe opposite ends of said flutes have passed the center of said rolls,and by which construction the edge of the strip or piece of leatherbeing split will always be pressed against the seam-guide H as it is fedthrough to the knife, thereby insuring not only its seam edge H beingtrimmed even and true by the edgingknife H but the split in the leatheralways at a certain distance from the evened edge H, whereby a perfectseam is secured when the piece of leather has been split and flattenedout for further use, as will be hereinafter more fully explained.

Asthemachineiscommonlyeonstructedthe {o5 feed-r0ll F turns in fixedbearings, while the A set or lock 7 I bearings, to enable it to yield tocompensate u are fed forward over the inclined sides of said thefeedrolls G G, the nearly-separated sides feed-roll F,which has abearingonly at its end farthest from the seam-guide H, is fitted to swing up toallow of pieces of leather of different thicknesses to pass through saidrolls, while the bearings of feed-rolls G G are supported in swingor-"sheafl bearings, which bearings are pressed or drawn together byequal s i|-iiig-pi-esstii-e, and when they open each roll is the samedistance from the edge of knife B; consequently the pieces of leatherwill always be properly centered when they strike the cutting-edge ofthe splitting-knife B, and knife-edge e is set so as to stand just backof a vertical line passing through the centers of the feed-rolls G G.

As the cutting-edge e of knife B is beveled off equally on both sides,the split portions of the leather are gradually opened as they pass overthe knife, so that when they reach the endf of the stationaryleather-opening guide I, which is the same or about the same width ofthe back f of the notched end B of knife B, they readily pass on eachside thereof and are caught by the set of burr feed-rolls J J,and

guide, one on each side of the guide, until reaching the wide andflaring end J of said guide,where they are caught by vertical flutedfeed-rolls K K, and in passing between said rolls are tiat tened out,forming a piece ofleather twice as broad as it was when passing throughof said strip of leather being held together by a narrow uncut portion.g, as indicated in dotted lines, Fig. 8, and full lines, Figs. 9 and 11.

It will be seen that splitting-knife B is supported and held in suchmanner that the end over which the split scrap-pieces of leather pass issmooth, and consequently the paths of the split sides or wings 11) E areunobstructed by nuts or bolt-heads.

In practice feed-roll K is fitted in yielding for the unevenness of thestrips of leather operated upon, while feed-roll K turns infixedbearings. Such bearings and the bearings of the feed-rolls F F and G Gform no part of my invention,'and, being well known in said Tylermachine, are not shown in the drawings. I

Thebearings of feed-rolls G G are so adjusted that when in their normalpositions,before the pieces of leather are fed in, the surfaces willstand close to the cutting-edge of the knife, and the bearings J" J ofthe burr feed-rolls J J are also arranged so that when they rest uponthe beveled edges h h in the notches h It in the edges of the seam-guideH the surfaces of said rolls will be nearly in contact with the beveledsurfaces of the leather-opening guide I, as indicated in Fig. 4 of thedrawings. Supportingarm 1 fits into a slot in the bed A, and it isfurthermore secured byscrew I, passing through hole 1 into bed A, thescrewhead being flush with top of arm 1.

As the pieces of leather when they are split are wet and in quite apliable condition, they are. liable, more particularly short pieces, to

clog or bunch up in passing over the wide or flaring end J, therebyoften rendering it necessary to stop and take the machine to pieces, inorder to free all the rolls from the accumulation of clogging pieces ofleatherfed into the machine before the trouble was discovered. Toobviate this I make the end H of the seam-guide H in curved or bentform,as fully indicated in Fig. 1 of the drawings, and by reference to whichit will be noticed that said end H of the seam guide H is bent out fromthe stationary leather-opening guide I and toward the uprightflattening-rollK, and

by which construction the wings or sides-of leather are allowed toslipoil, or a little away from guide I, after passing the burr feed-rolls JJ. whereby the friction on the flaring side of guide I is lessened, andthe leather moves along until, coming in contact with the flutedsurfaces of the upright rolls K K, it is caught and carried throughbetween them and flattened out to form a piece of, leather, such as isshown in Figs. 10 and 11, the latter represen'ting a cross-section online d 'd,-Fig. 10, looking in the direction of arrow d.

Fig. 8 represents the form of the strip of leather shown in Fig. 7 afterit has been fed through thesplitting-machine and then folded up. Theuncut portion 9. which forms the seam or union between the wings E E, isrep resented by dotted lines, Fig. 8.

In Fig. 9 the wings E E are shown opened or spread partially out to showthe folding edge H in its doubled position, and in order to have thesesplit pieces work up well and give satisfaction alike to manufact-u rer,wearer,

even and true by the edging-knife H, whichisvarranged to stand in aninclined position against the beveled end of the seam-guide H, as fullyindicated in Figs. 1 and 2 of thedrawings, the lower end of said knifebeing shown broken off in Fig. 2. It is held in place by a set-screwpassing through its slotted support in the usual manner. The strip Imust also be split'even and with a narrow and uniform uncut portion, 9,since if the edge H is not even and true it will not double backuniformly, which is essential to make good work, andif the narrow part gis not of uniform width the same unfavorable result is produced, whileif the part g is cut entirely through a portion of the way the strip isrendered comparatively worthless, as the wing.

partsE Eseparate when used in making boot and shoe heels, slip-soles,and inner soles, for which they are especially adapted when prop= erlysplit, as can be done by my said inven-' tion, since as a result of theangular flutes d on the feedrolls F F and G G the strips Eof leather areconstantly pressed up against the seam-guide H, thereby 'in'suring, asbefore stated, the proper trimming off of the uneven part at to leavethe true edge H, and which even surface H being pressed by the eudwiaeto: a and dealers, the edge H must be trimmed ofl:

cassao 3 action of flutes d up against the inner side of the seam-guideH, the strip of leather is fed to the edge e of knife B in such a mannerthat the cut is made the entire length ata uniform distance from thetrimmed edge H, such distance being determined by the distance the,

end of knife B is set from the side of seamgnide H, and the distance canbe very nicely adjusted by means of the adjusting-bolts B and uprightbolt D, and after being once adjusted the knife can be taken out,sharpened, and replaced very quickly, and that, too,without further endadjustment, thus enabling an operator to do a large amount of work andof the best quality. Those skilled in the art to which my inventionbelongs will readily appreciate the practical value of this part of myinvention, by which the strip of leather can be split, leaving only anarrow and uniform uncut part, g, the entire length of the back to formthe seam, and which result can only be obtained by such a constructionof the machine as to keep the strip up close to the seamguide H, howeveruneven or bunehy it may be, since if the leather twists laterally as itis fed to the knife the corner of the latter will cut through the backand greatly injure the work, if it does not spoil it.

Feed rolls have heretofore been made slightly conical, with a view ofaccomplishing a like effect; but such construction tailed to produce theresults sought, especially when bunches were found on the flesh side ofthe leather scraps.

In Fig.4the burr feed roils and their bearings are shown in full lines,(not in section,) while the seam-guide H is shown in cross-section, andfrom which illustration that part of my invention relating to thisparticular part of the tnachine will be readily understood.

The spindles M, to which the burr feed-rolls J J are fastened, turn insquare pipe or hollow bearings J J which in. turn rest in the squarenotches h it, one in the upper and one in the lower edge of theseanrguide H, and

the bottoms of both of these notches are beveled off, as seen at n n, toleave sharp edges h h, so that the bearings J J when in their normalpositions, as shown in Fig. 4, rest or are pressed against the sharpedges h it.

As before stated, in the use of the machine there is liability of shredsof the leather working in between the bottoms of the bearings of therolls J J and the bottoms of the notches in the seam-guide H, and tosuch an extent as to seriously impair the working of the machine,requiring oftentimes the stopping of said machine and the removal of therolls J J and their bearings in order to reach and remove theobstructions, and this difficulty led to the invention and constructionof the combination just described, whereby every time the bearings ofsaid rolls are allowed to spring back to their normal positions theycttt up or separate any foreign matter lodged on the sharp edges h h,which is then worked off by the action of the machine; but in case, bythe constant use of the machine, the bearings do not Spring togetheroften or hard enough, the attendant stops the machine and pulls the burrfeed-rolls apart, and then allows them to spring back, and whichoperation, repeated a few times, suffices to cut and separate the lodgedmaterial, which is then Worked off by the ordinary action of themachine.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that my improvements inmachines for splitting and opening pieces of leather to be afterward cutup and used in making boot and shoe heels, slip and inner soles, arewell adapted to give it additional merit and usefulness in utilizing thewaste pieces of leather, thereby greatly contributing to the lesseningof thecost of boots and shoes, especially those worn by the laboringclasses.

It will be understood that the respective sets of feed-rolls areproperly geared together, and therefore have positive motions when themachine is in operation.

As before stated, my present invention is an improvement upon the Tylertnachine, and I therefore hereby disclaim all that is shown, described,and claimed in said Tyler patents of March 5, 1881, No. 242.079,February 7, 1882, No. 253,449, and June 2, 1885, N0. 319.357.

Having described my improvements in scrapleathensplitting machines, whatI claim therein as new and of my invention, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is

l. The (:OI'llbiliittiOi], with the splitting-knife B, feed-rolls F F,stationary leather-opening guide I, and flattening-rolls K K, of theseam and edge guide H, having its rear end curved out from thestationary leather-opening guide 1 toward the outer flattening-roll,substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. The combination, with the bearings J J of the burr feedrolls JJ, ofthedouble notched and beveled seam-guide H, substantially as and for thepurposes set forth.

3. The combination, with the bed-plate A and splittingknife B, of theback and end knife-support, 0, provided with knife-adjusting bolts andupright holding bolt or screw D, substantially as and for the purposesset forth.

4. The combinatiomwith the seam-guide H and leather splitting knife B,of the feedr0lls G G, provided with angular flutes d", madesubstantially as described, so that as the feedrolls revolve to feed thescraps of leather through to the splittiugknife the ends of the flutesnext to said seam-guide H will be a little back of the centers of saidrolls-G G when their opposite ends have passed the centers thereof.substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

JOHN A. JOSSELYN.

\Vitnesscs:

Tnos. H. DODGE, HENRY L. MILLER.

